TRACE FOSSILS IN FLUVIAL DEPOSITS OF THE UPPERMOST STOCKTON FORMATION (LATE TRIASSIC), WEST-CENTRAL NEW JERSEY

Fluvial deposits of the uppermost Stockton Formation (Late Triassic), Newark Basin, west-central New Jersey have yielded an assemblage of trace fossils. Dominated by burrows, the specimens include Cochlichnus anguineus, Helminthoidichnites tenuis, Planolites beverleyensis, Scoyenia gracilis, Spongeliomorpha carlsbergi, Treptichnus bifurcus, Treptichnus pollardi, plant remains, as well as an undetermined vertebrate trace fossil. The assemblage belongs to the Scoyenia ichnofacies. On the basis of primary sedimentary structures and stratification, the beds are interpreted as deposits in a meandering stream environment. Wormlike forms, larval insects, and arthropods are probably responsible for most of the animal traces in moist or wet channel, point bar, and floodplain sediments subject to subaerial exposure.